Making the switch

Now that Max is here and we are officially a party of 4 - please update your bookmarks/readers to this blog:

http://davispartyof4.blogspot.com

It is currently a work in progress - so bear with me as I get myself and the blog together. I have to admit, I love being a party of 4, but I'm so attached to this little blog - it is making me a little sad to be closing this chapter. I know we are starting a new, wonderful, and exciting chapter over at Party of 4.

I hope you will all continue to follow us over there and leave comments and encouragement as I'm sure I'll need it over the next few months.

If you need a little incentive to click over there - I posted 3 new pictures of Max today. :)

Maxwell Judson Davis

Maxwell Judson Davis (Max) was born last night, October 22nd at 7:03pm.

He weighed 7lbs 15oz and was 21 inches long.

He is perfect and we are all in love with the 4th member of our party.





More details to come when we get home and settled.

Mani and Pedi

I got a pedicure a couple of weeks ago - it still looked good, so I didn't think I'd need another one before I went into labor. Yesterday, however, I stubbed one of my toes and all of the polish came off. Ugh. The one thing that can look good during labor - your toes. So, since baby brother is still "nice and floaty" I took the opportunity to get a pedicure today. I took my little buddy along with me.

I had heard of a nail salon in Toco Hills that had little kid's chairs for pedicures. So, I asked Charlotte if she wanted to go get her nails painted with me. She was pretty excited about it.

We walked in and picked out our colors. Despite my best attempts to get her to choose something non-neon, she picked neon orange.

They put her in the little chair that looked like a teddy bear and turned on a movie for her to watch. Then, I sat in the chair next to her.

She was SO GOOD! She sat there super still the entire time her toes and nails were painted. She loved soaking her feet in the water and having lotion rubbed on her legs. They only had to repaint one of her thumb nails - I thought that was pretty good for a 2.5 year old.

I love this little girl more than words can say. I am so happy we had this special time together today and I look forward to many more manicures and pedicures with her.

39 Weeks

Sunday Morning Picnic

Conversations with Charlotte

Lately we have been listening to Veggie Tales in the car. Charlotte LOVES it and I welcome the change up from our usual CD rotation. There is one song on the CD and the refrain is "OH, how I love Jesus because he first loved me". Charlotte can't sing all of the words to all of the songs - some of them are a little complicated, but she knows this song and can sing that phrase. I'm not sure I've ever heard anything sweeter in my life than her little voice singing "OH, how I love Jesus because he first loved me".

On Wednesday we were in the car on our way to story time. That song came on and she sang it. When it was over she asked:

"Mom, when will I meet Jesus?" (She calls me "mom" now a lot - not sure how I feel about it yet)

Me : "Well, honey, none of us know for sure when we will meet Jesus."

Char : "But, I will meet Him one day?"

Me : "Yes, I hope that you will"

Char : "How will I know how to get there?"

Me : "You don't have to worry about that, He'll show you the way"


Are 2.5 year olds supposed to ask questions like this? It totally hit me off guard and threw my very emotional pregnant self into a total meltdown.

The innocence just knocks you off of your feet.

38 Weeks

Now that was cool

See all of those groceries in the back of my car? I didn't have to step one foot out of my car to get them. The Publix at Toco Hills has a curbside program! I tried it for the first today - and it is awesome.

I have been wanting to try this service for a little while. Publix only has two stores nationwide that are doing this pilot program and the Publix a few miles from us happens to be one of them. Since my back has decided to act up every time I walk more than 10 minutes, I decided I would try out the new service.

Last night I made my list and sat down to order everything through publix.com. It took a while, but now that I have my initial list set up, I think the next time will take about 10 minutes to do. I picked the time I wanted to come pick up my order. (You have to give them at least 4 hours, and you have to order by 4:30pm if you want same day pick up.) I set my time for 9 AM, right after I drop Char off at school.

This morning I got a call from my "personal shopper" saying that a couple of the items I wanted were out of stock and asked what substitutes I wanted. Then, at 9AM, I pulled up to the store and he came out to greet me. He asked if I had any coupons - which I did! - and went in to run them through. Then, he came out with my total and I handed him my credit card. He pushed a cart out of the store and loaded up the back of my car. I didn't have to get out once!

I was a little nervous to unload the groceries - I knew that this would be too good to be true, and that there would probably be a mistake or two. (just call me a pessimist) My carton of eggs had a couple that were cracked. The chicken I ordered was wrong - I guess they were out of Greenwise Split Chicken Breasts - but he threw in two extra packs of chicken - so I ended up with $7.00 of free chicken. It is thighs and breasts with ribs - which I never use, but I'll look up a recipe. I ordered a couple of things incorrectly because I couldn't see the product on the shelf - but they will still work.

All in all it was a great experience - and the first time you do it, it is free. After this, I'll have to cough up $8 for the convenience - which is more than I'll want to spend to do it weekly. But, I'm sure when the baby comes and it is freezing outside, I'll do this at least a couple of times a month.

Now, if only my personal shopper would come home with me, carry all of the bags into the house and put it all away. Asking too much?

Our Weekend

We had another relaxing weekend this past weekend. Saturday morning we hung around the house for a long time, then headed over to the Oakhurst Arts Festival. They had a great area set up for kids with lots of free activities - the highlight for Charlotte was making a peanut butter and Ritz cracker spider.

Saturday evening we headed to the park and met up with the Himes family. After a picnic dinner, the girls played ball with their daddies and then played at the playground.

Sunday morning, Judd was nice enough to take care of Charlotte so I could rest a little while. He took her over to our favorite bagel place to pick up some bagels. I had a few minutes to lay on the couch and watch the news - quite the luxury. We then headed to church and taught Sunday School.

After Sunday School, we picked up some chicken from Publix and met Judd's parents back at our house to celebrate his Dad's birthday. To say Charlotte was excited to see her grandparents would be a huge understatement. As usual, there was a present or two for her - one of which was a pumpkin flashlight. I don't think she has put it down since she opened it.

We went over to PDK to play on the playground on Sunday afternoon - but since it is 86 degrees in October (the most FRUSTRATING month in Atlanta - you want it to be Fall and it just refuses to be!) we didn't last too long.

Not too much going on this week. I had a doctor's appointment this morning and haven't budged a centimenter - still 1cm dialated. So, I guess this little guy is in it for the long run. I was pretty discouraged. I know I still have 2 weeks technically - I'm just SO ready to not carry this weight around.

Here's a picture of Charlotte's new big girl bed. This is a pretty cool bed that used to be in our office, but we moved it to Charlotte's room to make room for baby brother. It pulls out to be a king sized bed if we have guests. After 2 or 3 nights of hearing a loud thud followed by crying, we bought a rail to put up so she wouldn't fall out anymore. She seems to like the bed and it fits perfectly in her room.

Baby Brother's Room

I'm not sure it really matters what his name will be, I think we are so used to calling him "baby brother", that he will always be "baby brother".

This room has been a long time in the making. We converted our home office to the nursery. Do you remember the post I did that showed the office closet? All of that - even though relatively organized - had to find a new home. Either in our house or someone else's. We started with a garage sale, that got rid of some of it. After that, I had to rearrange all of the other closets in our house to try to find some room. It seemed to take forever.

We moved our office downstairs to a "sunroom" area off of our kitchen. I say "sunroom" in quotes because it is probably only 3 ft by 4 ft, but it fits a desk and a bookshelf perfectly. Not much privacy, but it will work for now.

As soon as the the doctor said, "It's a boy", we knew we would do an airplane theme. Judd loves airplanes, airlines, anything aviation related. He knows the ins and outs of the industry - not just because it is his job, but because he is truly interested in it. You can ask him anything about it.

Pottery Barn just so happened to have their airplane bedding go on sale the week we found out the sex for sure - so we jumped at the chance to buy it. Then, my mom made a curtain for us to match, Judd's mom bought us the airplane mobile, and my Grammie bought us the airplane lamp. My sister and her family bought the vinyl decal for above the crib. It was all coming together.

We ended up moving Charlotte's furniture into the nursery. Then, she got the big trundle bed we had in the office and a new dresser to match it. (I have pictures of her room to post later)





We had much different plans for this wall just earlier this week. We had pictures hung and everything - but it really looked like a wall made for a Delta executive's office, not a baby boy's room. So, I did a little research and found this idea. Does it work?







Now all we need is a little boy!!

37 Weeks

Just the 3 of us

We are wrapping up a wonderful weekend - a weekend that we tried to concentrate on fun and being a little family of three.

I had an early morning photography session, then I met Judd and Charlotte at a "rescronk" to eat pancakes. After breakfast, we headed down to Delta headquarters to attend an airline memorabilia show. We were looking for a few last things to decorate the nursery with. Charlotte had a good time pretending to fly to Grammie's house on the Spirit of Delta.

Saturday evening we decided to enjoy the beautiful weather. We picked up some sandwiches and headed to the park for dinner. We had a really nice picnic, then played ball, explored, and Charlotte played on the playground. It was a beautiful evening - the weather was perfect. Ice cream on the way home was a great way to end the day.

Today Judd and I taught Sunday School. After Sunday School, the three of us headed up to Jaemor Farms to pick out a pumpkin. We have gone to Burt's the past couple of years, but wanted to try something new and a little less hectic. Jaemor was perfect! You actually get to walk into the pumpkin patch where the pumpkins grow and cut your own pumpkin. If you don't want to actually pick your pumpkin from the patch, you can pay $3 to just take pictures. We found a great pumpkin and Judd cut it for us. After the pumpkin patch, we took a hayride - and we didn't even have to wait in line! Charlotte spotted the ponies next, so we bought her a ride on a pony named Oreo. She didn't last very long on it, though - she wasn't too sure about it.

We stopped at the store on the way out and picked up some apples, apple cider donuts, and two baby pumpkins - one for Charlotte and one for baby brother.

I couldn't help but get teary eyed a couple of times during this weekened thinking about the changes ahead of us. Of course I can't wait to meet the fourth member of our family - our little man - and I know he'll fit right in. But, I can't help but feel myself holding onto these last days of us as a family of three - a special time that I'll never forget. Just as I'll never forget the wonderful years that it was just 2 of us.

Hair

Judd: "She really needs a hair cut"
Me: "No she doesnt', it's perfect"

I just can't bear to do it. I love her crazy yellow curls - especially when she wakes up in the morning and they are at their craziest and everywhere. I just can't picture her without her hair bouncing around when she moves. It is just about the only baby thing left - so I'm hanging onto it for dear life.

36 Weeks

We made it through our busy weekend. I ended up working at the Oak Grove Young Children's School Consignment Sale most of the night Thursday night, Friday morning, and Saturday morning into Saturday afternoon. This sale was VERY successful for the school - a huge amount of clothing, toys, etc were sold. I was able to shop a little bit and was able to get most of Charlotte's fall wardrobe plus an Ergo baby carrier for the new baby. I was pretty pumped with my finds.

Working the sale was a lot of fun. I got to talk to a lot of other moms from the school and visit with moms from the community that I have met over the past couple of years. For a girl that is used to always being the "new" one in town, it is nice to finally feel settled in a community.

Today, Judd's co-workers through a shower for us. It was so nice to see everyone that Judd talks about on a daily basis. It was very thoughtful of them. I always feel just a little guilty when people want to have showers for us with the 2nd baby. After the shower, we headed over to the Delta Museum to pick up some pictures for that baby's room. It is an airplane theme, and we were able to pick up some vintage airplane pictures and postcards for the walls. Charlotte liked getting a closer look at the big airplane.



This afternoon, Charlotte decided to make her bed on the fireplace. It looked really uncomfortable to me, but she insisted. She ended up watching most of the Wonder Pets in this position.



Tonight at dinner, she decided to say the blessing. This is how it went:

"Nice and slooooooow"
"Nice and slooooooow"
"Nice and fast"
"Nice and smelly"
"AMEN"

No idea where she got that - but it cracked us up.

Busy

The slow days of summer have definitely ended - we have become very busy all of the sudden.

It started a month or so ago when the photography business really picked up. I was contacted by two different etsy sellers to do product photography for their products. I shot the Halloween line and Christmas line for Inkspot Workshop. Please click over and look at the Halloween line - it is SUPER cute and will make you want to throw a Halloween party. I also had 5 family sessions since labor day, 3 of them this past weekend. It is a lot of fun to be busy with photography, but it has meant pictures of Charlotte have been scarce. And, I won't get a 35 week maternity picture up this week. I have loved every minute of the sessions, though - it just makes me realize that I love photography - and especially capturing the personalities of children. To capture that one magical moment is an awesome feeling.

We went to the playground yesterday afternoon and there were 2 little boys playing with their daddy. Charlotte asked where their mommy was. I replied that I didn't know. She said, "She's probably taking pictures of people".

Here's Charlotte taking a picture of me (looks like a natural, huh?)


This week things aren't slowing down. Charlotte's school, Oak Grove Young Children's School, is having their consignment sale this weekend. It is HUGE. It brings in tons of money for the school. I was asked to be on the consignment sale committee - which means I will be there a lot this weekend. I am excited to see how the operation runs.

Judd has been great through all of this. He has been super supportive of the photography, and hasn't complained once about watching Charlotte a little more than usual on the weekends.

After Sunday, life should slow back down. For that I am grateful. I will need a couple of weeks to relax before our lives are hectic again with a newborn in the house, then the holidays. I can't believe we are 4.5 weeks away from the due date. I can't believe our house will have a 4th person in it.

Naps (or lack thereof) - Part 2

She is napping again, most of the time, but on her own terms.

I don't call it nap anymore, I call it "quiet time" exclusively. She gets to pick out a few toys from downstairs, a little snack, and a drink and go up to her room. I read a couple of books to her, then set the alarm clock for 1 hour and 20 minutes. She plays for a little while, but then it gets very quiet.

The first day, I looked in to find her sound asleep in her bed. The second day, I cracked open the door and almost hit her in the head - she had pulled a pillow off of her bed and covered herself up on the floor. This is how she has been sleeping during quiet time ever since.

I'm not sure if this change has something to do with her new big girl bed (pictures of her transformed room later this week) or what - but I'm not going to mess with it. I don't care where she sleeps as long as I don't have a "grouchy ladybug" all afternoon!

Twirly Girl

There was a conversation between Judd and I while I was pregnant with Charlotte. I remember it distinctly - we were riding in the car going down Lawrenceville Hwy and Judd was doing something goofy. He was making up words to a song, and I was cracking up. It was something that he would only do in front of me, never his friends for fear of being uncool - just something goofy you do with people that know you better than anyone else.

Then, he turned to me and said, "What if she isn't funny? What if she doesn't understand our humor? or us?" I hadn't really thought about that. What if she just wasn't funny. There are those people - no sense of humor - they just don't get it. I always have thought of that in the back of my mind. Just a little worried about it.

But, that little baby that we worried about IS funny. VERY funny. She does get it - she gets us. She understands her Daddy's goofy songs - and even lately sings goofy songs back to him. She knows what it is to make people laugh - and loves to be funny. She has funny dances and knows they make me laugh. Last weekend she had me laughing so hard I was crying - twice.

I know one day Judd and I will be completely uncool and embarrass her to death. But, I hope that when she isn't in public, in the house with us or the car, she will always be able to let loose and be goofy with us. It is so important to me that she knows she can just be herself around us. We are so in love with our little goofball.

34 Weeks

Naps (or lack thereof)

I'm afraid Charlotte is in the process of dropping her nap. We have been struggling with it for a couple of months. I think I have been in denial. Of course this happens just before a newborn comes into the house. Just when I will depend on her nap time the most.

She is napping (always with a fight) about every other day. The days she doesn't nap, she has "quiet time", which is never quiet. I think I need to get a timer for her room, so that she is quiet until it dings. There are multiple calls to "MOOOOOMMMMMMYYYYYY" for a snack, drink, to help her with a toy, etc. Any suggestions for a quiet "quiet time" are appreciated.

On the days she does nap, I usually have to lay down with her - sometimes in our bed. It is to the point that it is such a struggle and fight that I'm about to just drop them all together and put her to bed a half hour earlier or so - especially now that it is getting darker earlier.

If she doesn't nap, she is usually OK until about 5:30 - then she's pretty cranky. Or, she falls asleep in the car in the afternoon if we run errands. On Saturday she didn't nap, but fell asleep on the couch watching Dora while I helped Judd put together her new dresser. She's never fallen asleep while watching TV. Which makes me wonder if she really does still need the nap?

It's always the same - just when you are in the groove, they change and you have to guess all over again.